Showstopper Sofia Vergara, of ABC’s Modern Family, says at one point she was two semesters shy of completing dental school in her native Colombia.

Famed American gunfighter John Henry “Doc” Holliday attended and graduated from the Pennsylvania School of Dental Surgery in 1872. Soon after his graduation, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and took his show on the road out West, as he was told by a few medical professionals that the dry climate could potentially be a cure. He eventually settled in Dallas, Texas and opened a practice.

War hero Paul Revere had a day job as a dentist and specialized in making false teeth. He also made a historical midnight

An image featuring a picture of Paul Revere that states "Did you know... Paul Revere was the first person known to use dental forensics."

“The cavities are coming! The cavities are coming!” ? Maybe not quite the message Paul Revere once shared. Courtesy Tyler Family Dentistry

ride just before the battles of Concord and Lexington to warn people, “The British are coming! The British are coming!”

Lucy Hobbs Taylor earned celebrity status by becoming the first American woman to graduate from dental school (Ohio College of Dental Surgery in 1866).

Thomas Welch, (the inventor of Welch’s grape juice), was a dentist.

Although most of the aforementioned were dentists first, some made the career change after finding fame in another profession first: James Lonborg played Major League Baseball with the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, and Philadelphia Phillies and found a second career in the in a dental practice after years on the pitching mound. (Learn about a few more famous dentists in a blog by Dr. Mark Bilello of Houma, Los Angeles or on a Pinterest page compiled by Phyllis Dixon, DDS, PC)

An image of Incisal Edge Magazine's 40 Under 40 edition.

Incisal Edge dental lifestyle magazine elevates America’s best young dentists to red carpet status annually with its 40 Under 40 awards.

Finally, others have the best of both worlds: Incisal Edge dental lifestyle magazine elevates America’s best young dentists to red carpet status annually with its 40 Under 40 awards and awards dental innovators their due alongside other game changing pioneers (ahem, Thomas Alva Edison), with its recent partnership with the Edison Awards™.

Moral of the story: Dentists rock the house, (and the baseball diamond, the big and small screen and history books everywhere.) And while they might be also be sports legends and entrepreneurial wonders, they are, first and foremost, health care heroes in their communities on a daily basis.

Next time you’re in for a cleaning, better ask for an autograph!